La Boquilla Dam
La Boquilla Dam (Spanish: Presa de la Boquilla) is a masonry arch-gravity dam on the Rio Conchos in Chihuahua, Mexico. It was built in 1910 to provide hydroelectricity, irrigation and flood control, and forms Toronto Lake with a capacity of 2.903 cubic kilometres (2,354,000 acre⋅ft). The dam and the nearby town of Boquilla de Conchos are named for the abrupt narrowing of the Conchos valley where the dam was built: boquilla means "nozzle" or "mouth".
| La Boquilla Dam | |
|---|---|
  Location of La Boquilla Dam in Mexico | |
| Location | San Francisco de Conchos Municipality, Chihuahua |
| Coordinates | 27°32′41″N 105°24′51″W |
| Construction began | 1910 |
| Opening date | 1915 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity |
| Impounds | Rio Conchos |
| Height (foundation) | 80 m (260 ft) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Toronto Lake |
| Total capacity | 2.903 km3 (2,354,000 acre⋅ft) |
| Installed capacity | 25 MW |
| Annual generation | 164.6 GWh |
Construction began in 1910 and was completed in 1915. The dam has overflowed several times throughout its history, most notably in 1917 and 2008, causing severe flooding downstream.[1]
The power plant at the dam has a generating capacity of 25 megawatts. In 2004 it produced 164,660,000 kilowatt hours of energy.[2]
See also
- Lago Colina Dam
- List of dams and reservoirs#Mexico
- List of lakes in Mexico